One of the main ideas behind sociobiology is that human emotions and morals are the result of evolution rather than learned social behavior. Or, rather, that what we think of as social evolution, is the same thing as biological evolution. Of course, there is a push and pull but basically emotions like love and feelings like disgust have evolutionary advantages, which cause the person with the trait to have more kids or spread that trait to others.
This is becoming more and more apparent as MRI's are used to see how brains work. The subject is placed into a strong magnetic fieldand and then one can see the precise areas of the brain that are operating at any time by measuring changes in the blood flow -- and thus oxygenation -- of the subject.
This article claims that romantic love evolved from maternal love, as the same areas of the brain lit up when women gazed at loved ones as when they gazed at their babies. What is interesting is that is says when one is in love romantically, the parts of your brain that are used for thinking critically are hampered, and you can't make "social assessments." The author suggests, "The findings suggest that once you fall in love, the need to critically assess the character and personality of that person is reduced." (love is blind, you get it).
Posted by bluprnt at December 15, 2004 03:36 PM